West Aurora guard Jayquan Lee had Benets student section in his ear at the free-throw line, yelling Pressure!

He knocked it down anyway, a usual sight for the Blackhawks on Friday in a third straight thriller at the Class 4A Bolingbrook sectional.

Without making a basket in the last eight minutes, West Aurora rode 15-of-20 fourth-quarter foul shooting, 23 of 36 for the game, to squeeze past Benet 42-38 in the sectional final in front of a capacity crowd of 2,050.

Coach always tells me to take a deep breath before I shoot. It relaxes myself in a crowd. And then I guess after I started making free throws everybody believed they could make it, so everybody else made them, too, said Lee, who scored 11 points on a 3 and 8 of 11 at the line.

No. 4 seed West Aurora avenged a 62-50 loss to Benet on Feb. 2 to advance to Tuesdays Hinsdale Central supersectional. The Blackhawks (24-6) will play Proviso East, a 67-48 winner over Oak Park at Schaumburg, in a rematch of the 2012 supersectional at the same place.

It means the world to us, said Lees backcourt mate, junior Jontrel Walker, who scored 10 points with 2 fourth-quarter steals. We made it here last year, we know what weve got to do this next game. Weve got to come out and play with the same defense, the same intensity.

Fridays game was a grinder No. 2 seed Benet (27-6) excels at. The Redwings held West Aurora below Benets defensive average of 43.5 points.

West Aurora coach Gordie Kerkman said this club has been successful whether up-tempo or not.

Weve got a little bit of a grinder-type team, and thats the way were going to win. And its worked for them, he said.

In a fourth quarter of three tie scores and three lead changes, Benet led 33-32 with 3:18 to play when Lee was fouled attempting a 3-point shot and made all three free throws.

Benet, playing on no rest after Thursdays double-overtime win over Neuqua Valley, committed a turnover next time downcourt, and Lee was fouled and hit another free throw for a 36-33 Blackhawks lead with 2:19 left.

Benet came within 40-38 on Eddie Eshoos 3-pointer from the left corner with 20.9 seconds left, followed by another Lee free throw.

Benet set up a play in the last 18 seconds but a pass went out of bounds. West Aurora center Josh McAuley made the final free throw with 5.8 seconds left to clinch it.

We were looking to get the best shot available, put the ball in (Pat) McInerneys hands, said Benet coach Gene Heidkamp. We thought we might have a chance to get Sean (OMara) on the roll and it didnt materialize.

I cant fault it, it was one of those things where they played good defense, they took away the options that Pat was looking for.

In a game where every possession mattered, a 5-5 score after one quarter and 17-16 West Aurora at halftime, the battle between 6-foot-7 West Aurora center McAuley and 6-9 counterpart OMara was key. McAuley scored 11 points with 10 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals. OMara scored 13 with 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.

Both were in foul trouble from the third quarter on. Benet clung to a 26-25 lead when West Auroras Chandler Thomas, subbing for McAuley, drew OMaras fourth foul on a charge with 1:07 left in the third quarter. The star junior sat until 6:21 of the fourth quarter.

Obviously, having him on the bench for three to four minutes at a crucial time was a blow for us, Heidkamp said.

I had it in my mind before I even got on the court, Thomas said.

They were all physical, said McInerney, who finished his four years on varsity with 9 points. Thats what butters your bread in March. Thats why theyre sectional champions back to back, because theyre physical and they play great defense.